Drúadan Forest
Political Organization: Tribal Groups. *'Rulers': Rhân-bun-Rhân. High Drûghan. *'Administrative Organization': On a clan level only. Shamans serve as the social and religious leaders of the communities. *'Population': 1.800 divided among more than 130 clans. *'Military': 400 Hunters and Warriors. *'Products': No exports. *'Symbol': None. Tucked away in the hidden hollows and valleys of Drúadan Forest live the Woses, descendants of the original inhabitants of Northwestern Endor. Less than a hard day's ride to the shining city of Minas Anor, the Woses lead primitive lives as they have for untold millennia. Despite their proximity to Gondor's most important city, very few Gondorians have ever seen a Wose. and fewer still know much about their ways. They seek only to be ignored by the whole outside world while they gather food and tend to the forest. Better woodsmen are not to be found among Men, for the Woses are crafty in all outdoor lores. The Woses are descendants of the primeval peoples of Middle-earth the Elves encountered in the First Age and relatives of the other Drúedain folk that still abide in Endor. In fact, most other tribes of Drúedain arc mistakenly called "Woses" for the tribe in Drúadan Forest is better known to the Dúnedain than any other. Pushed aside first by their Dunlending cousins and later by the Dúnedain, the Woses and their kin retreated to forests and inaccessible locations in the mountains. Distant relatives of Cardolan's Beffraen and the Coastal Peoples in Anfalas and near the mouths of the River Isen, the Woses have little contact with their kin, let alone their neighbors, who occasionally hunt them for sport. They speak a tongue nearly impossible for outsiders to pronounce, and no Wose has volunteered to teach it. Most knowledge about the Woses comes from the ruins left by the ancestors of the Dunlendings at places like Dunharrow and Tolfalas. Today, the Woses no longer work in stone, nor do they retain any of their reputed skills as jewelry smiths. Instead, they spend much of their time gathering food from the forest and telling tales about the land in earlier times. The Woses live in close to one hundred small tribal groups and share no higher organization outside of the family units. Their religion is highly animistic and centers around superstition and reverence for personifications of various aspects of nature. Each family group has a member who acts as a shaman, divining the future and tending the infirm. The shamans share some identity outside of the tribes, deferring to the most powerful of their number in spiritual questions. Holy places are highly significant to the Woses, and an ignorant trespasser may face torture and death for even a seemingly minor offense. Places of Note *Amon Dín *The Ancestral Clearing *Blood-cloak *bright-lily glade *Circle of the Dead *Dhûrghud *Drû Bhûta *The Drúadan Forest Quarries *Drúnen River *Eilenach *Eilenach Glens *Garden of Poisons *Grey Forest *Glade of Cleansing *Glade of the Three Merry-makers *Great Falls *Luk Khakát *Nardol *Nardol Quarry *Númenórean Ruin *Old Daen Ruins *Old Quarry Road *The Passage Out *Pûkel-caves *Standing Stones *Stone-cross *Stonewain Valley *Théoden's War-stead *War-stead of the Eorlingas *Wodwic's water-cave *Wose-Path *Wose-village (Eilenach Glens) Characters: Âm-buri-Sôl Bhai-buri-Ghân Bhis-weni-Mâr Dhûn-buri-Ghôb Drû-buri-Drû Êkh-buri-Dhûr Ghân-buri-Ghân Ghâr-buri-Bhâm Gnô-buri-Krûg Gnô-maka-Ghûr Khûr-pulo-Skâl Lhôs-uksa-Wôt Mân-weni-Mhên Ôk-weni-Dhûr Okwô-kuryô Rhûd-pulo-Drât Wêg-pulo-Ghûr References *MERP:Riders of Rohan Category:Forest Category:Gondor Category:Drughu